


it's worth all that's lost

by cinderlily



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 14:48:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10766457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/pseuds/cinderlily
Summary: Life had thrown Tyler some curves, but he could follow the curve of Jamie's lips anywhere.





	it's worth all that's lost

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a prompt that read "I could live off that smile." 
> 
> Title from "Just to See You Smile" by Tim McGraw

When they first really met, Jamie being picked to the same All-Star team and seated right next to him, Tyler distinctly remembered thinking that the kid looked to somber and sober to be sitting there. There was more alcohol behind the draft than Tyler had seen in months and even ‘without his ID’ he had been allowed a nice glass of whiskey to keep him warm. 

“Hey, don’t smile too much,” he’d teased. “You might scare the camera guy.” 

And Jamie had laughed, a half giggle half honk, that was accompanied by the best smile that Tyler had ever seen. That smile made him feel like he’d done something worthy of gold, worthy of the Stanley Cup, just by the easy fact of making a dumb joke. 

Tyler coughed, straightened his pant legs and looked forward, unable to hide his own smile. 

* 

The second time they really met, Tyler was in a bad place, to put it mildly. He was sad, yes, to leave Marchy and the friends he’d made back east. Upset that he was being put in some second rate market after leaving the Stanley freaking Cup winning team. But more he was _embarrassed_. 

How much of a fuck up does he have to be to have his team trade him less than a month after he hoisted the freaking Cup above his head. Sure he wasn’t a _vital_ point of the team. He was young. But he was _good_ and he was freaking ready and they just threw him away like a piece of trash. 

He got off the plane, hoping to check into his hotel and avoid life for a few days. Maybe, if he were lucky, the mini bar would be stocked. But instead, he saw Jamie Benn holding up a sign with a single green star with the initials T.S. in the center of it, looking kind of awkward and nervous. Tyler could have just walked by but instead he grabbed the poster board and laughed. 

“Subtle, Benn.” 

“I didn’t put your name on it,” Jamie pointed out. 

To be honest, it wouldn’t really matter, people passed them without even giving them a second glance. This, he figured, was his new reality. Even being a lowly nothing on the Bruins got you some notoriety. He scratched the back of his neck. 

“You hungry?” Jamie asked. 

Tyler shrugged. “I could always eat, you paying?” 

Jamie beamed a smile at him, the memory of the first smile popping up in Tyler’s head and making his stomach ache in a good way. “Dennys’ it is.” 

“Hey, hey,” Tyler said. “I’m not a cheap date, here, buddy. We go Cracker Barrel or bust.” 

Jamie nodded and turned around, Tyler following at his feet. He wasn’t even sure if they had Cracker Barrel’s nearby but he’d traveled enough for hockey to eat at a couple. He was mostly following behind just to see what Jamie would do next.

They ended up at a steakhouse that was decidedly _not_ Denny’s nor Cracker Barrel but it didn’t matter. By the end of the meal they were joking and laughing. The food was amazing but it was worth it just to see the deep lines around Jamie’s eyes and the way he honked when something was particularly funny. 

* 

The next day Jamie took him to the arena, they hadn’t actually made that a plan but nevertheless he was at his hotel room an hour before the meeting and Tyler was cooler with him than a random cab. He had a meeting with management and coaches and it went over like a lead zeppelin. 

He walked out of the meeting with a frown on his face, his hands balled at his side and the sudden realization that Jamie was still there. Seated with his phone in his hands and one headphone in his ear. The door clicked and Tyler didn’t have time to school his face to neutral. 

Jamie was nice enough to wait for the car to ask what had happened. 

“I’m a good fucking player,” Tyler spewed out. “I might be young, but I’m not a freaking moron. Yeah, I fucked up in Boston, but I didn’t fuck up because of my play. I missed one practice and I had to live with that. I hated every moment. They don’t have to treat me like a freaking pity case here. 

“I am here to play the fucking game and bring a cup to this city. I am more than willing to fight it out if they need me to. But they need to fucking trust me. You know?” 

Jamie tapped his fingers on the top of the steering wheel and looked out on the road, squinting at the ridiculously bright Texas day. He hummed something and then paused, turned into a small parking lot. 

“I’m Captain.” 

Tyler frowned. “What the fuck does that matter?” 

“You think they made me Captain because of some sort of ace play? We’ve had a terrible few years. But I’m quiet and I get shit done, apparently. So I’m the de facto freaking Captain. They think I’ll play by their rules, not give Ruff much crap and maybe someone better will come along.” 

“That’s… not true,” Tyler said. He’d heard people talk about Jamie like he was the best thing in Texas. “You’re good. You’re really good.” 

Jamie shrugged. “And so are you. But they have an image in their head of what we are supposed to be. They think we’re the quiet one or the fuck up.” 

Tyler flinched but didn’t correct him. That’s what he was being called, he might as well absorb it. 

“Let’s prove them all wrong.” 

“What?” 

“Let’s. Prove. Them. Wrong,” Jamie said, again. “Let’s light this city up. Let’s teach them not to underestimate Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Let’s give Sid and Geno a run for their money. Younger and hungrier.” 

Tyler laughed loudly at that. “That’s a bit much, don’t you think?” 

“Fuck it,” Jamie said, and it was weird to hear curse words out of his mouth when he looked so damn innocent. “You and I, we can do this. Together. Let them talk about us, but know that we are the ones who set up why they will be talking.” 

“I like this side of you, Benn.” 

Jamie blushed and smiled, soft and slow and his ears turned a little red. 

And yeah. He was in a city that was almost an entire country from where he thought of as home, he was still hurt from a lot of things, and tired, and sad… but there was that smile. That stupidly sweet smile that seemed to grow when it was looking at Tyler, or maybe that was just what Tyler hoped was true. 

Tyler would come to find that he would follow that smile absolutely anywhere and he always found it worth the ride. 

(He also found out that the smile he got from Jamie was generally meant just for him, and he was okay with that as well.)


End file.
